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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnyaiththa Paththu 6

31/3/2021

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Kanchan maalum kadidhezhundh odiyum
Minji nindru miLirum poruppidai
Konji nindru kulavuva dhandriyum
NenjinuuLLum ramaNa niraindhanan

Word meaning
Kanchan = Brahma; maal = Vishnu; kadidhu = quickly; thedu = search; minji = beyond; milLirum = sparkling, bright; konji = cuddle; kulavi = in a friendly manner;

Arunachala stood beyond the reach and search of Brahma and Vishnu. He stands cuddling and snuggling up the effulgent, shining Annamalai for us to see. That RamaNa fills my entire heart.

The first line refers to the puranic story where Brahma and Vishnu tried to find the head and feet of Shiva who stood as a pillar of light but couldn’t. Such a god who was beyond the reach of celestial beings is standing before as Ramana says SV. 

Words ‘konji kulavidhal’ don’t have a proper English equivalent. ‘konjudhal’ is what a mother, her heart brimming with unconditional love and affection, would do with her child and  how the child, completely dependent on her and not knowing anyone else in the world, would reciprocate. It is also the type of interaction between lovers. 

‘kulavu’ or ‘kulaavudhal' refers to the act of being very close and friendly in one’s interaction. Both are relevant examples as Bhagavan composed Aksharamana malai from a woman longing for her beloved. 

And also as a child as evidenced in this incident when, during Karthigai festival, the ashram people brought the ‘vibhuthi’ from Annamalayar on his street visit came to the ashram entrance. Bhagavan said, ‘Why all this? The son is included in the Father’. This is a reference to a verse from Saint Manickavasagar’s Tiruvembavai which was composed in Tiruvannamalai, a poem that is sung during the month of Margazhi (December). The poet says ‘un kayil piLLai unakke adaikalam’ meaning ‘the child in your hand is your own refuge’. 

Many incidents in Bhagavan’s life during his early days when many women devotees came from various places to make sure he was fed well, and on more than one occasion goddess Parvati herself. Below are two incidents that confirm this from Devotees’ experiences, this is from Shantammal’s recollections:

Sometime during this period I had a dream. A resplendent lady with a luminous face was seated by Bhagavan’s side on the sofa, and Bhagavan was adorning her with meticulous care. Another lady, just as beautiful and full of light and splendour, was moving about the ashram, doing all kinds of service. I asked Bhagavan how it was that he was giving so much attention to one and none to the other, but I woke up before I received an answer. When I told my dream to Muruganar, he told me that it was true that an invisible being was always near Bhagavan. She was the Goddess of Salvation and Muruganar had composed several songs about her.

‘When I was living on the hill, a woman who used to bring me food would serve a second plate by my side. When I asked whom it was for, she would answer, “For the Mother”. She had also had a similar vision.’

One day Appu Sastri’s wife came with a big pot of excellent coffee,
but Bhagavan refused to have any.  ‘Don’t you know that I don’t like coffee?’ he asked. She fought back by asking, ‘What am I to do? I had a dream last night in which I saw a very stately lady at the gate of the temple. I knew at once that she was Parvati herself. She told me, “My son is not taking coffee. Please prepare some  good coffee and make him drink.” There you are, Swami. It’s your mother’s orders!’ Bhagavan got indignant. ‘She [Parvati] is always like this, interfering with my ways of living and frustrating my tapas. She did the same when I was living on the hill!’
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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnayoththa Paththu 5

30/3/2021

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AruNai vaazhum azhagan amudhan en
KaruNai vaazhum kadavuLan kaathciyaan
Tharuna gnana sadhodhaya sooriyan
PoruNalam tharum pooraNa bodhagan

Word meaning
AruNai = Arunachala; vaazhum = living; azhagan = beautiful person; amudhan = sweet like nectar; karuNai = compassion; kadavuL = god; kaatchi = sight, object seen; tharuNa = youthful; poruL = material things; poorana = full, wholesome; bodhagan = teacher;

Meaning
My Ramana living in Arunachala is sweet like nectar to me. He is the form of compassion and gnana who shines like the sun that never sets. He is god that bestows material wealth and other boons his seekers need.

SV considers Bhagavan as God himself, as he has done throughout this work where he makes no distinction between Arunachaleswara and Bhagavan. Mortals like us, limited by our five senses and our ignorance, have not seen god. The closest we can come to seeing God are great souls like Bhagavan who, for the sake of devotees, take the human form to bestow on us what we need and serve as a staunch guide to help us escape from samsara.

Kanchi Sage, Paramacharya, says this about guru and god:
“Guru is Iswara in human form, but who is, however free from the triple functions of creation, preservation and destruction which pertain only to Iswara. If we have absolute faith in him, the Guru will shower us with all for which we go to God. In fact, God is needed only we cannot find a Guru. Guru bhakti is even higher than and more efficacious than Deiva bhakti. Sri Vedanta Desikar has declared that he does not consider God higher than the Guru. According to a verse, when God is angry, the Guru protects you but when the Guru himself is angry, there is no protector in the world. If we surrender ourselves absolutely without any reservations to the Guru, he will save us from all sorrows and show us the way to salvation. It is due to lack of Guru bhakti that Iswara bhakti is waning in the hearts of men."
SV sees Bhagavan as a youthful guru, taruna gnana sadhodhaya sooriyan meaning ‘youthful wisdom un-setting sun’. This finds a parallel in Adi Shanakra’s Sri Dakshinamurthy Stotra where the lord who is youthful is sitting under a banyan tree teaching his older disciples through silence. On more than one occasion, people have drawn comparisons between Bhagavan and Dakshinamurthy.

Sloka
Mouna Vyakhya prakatitha, para,

Brahma thathwam yuvanam,
Varshishtha anthevasad rishiganai,
Ravrutham brahma nishtai,
Acharyendram kara kalihtha chin,
Mudram ananda roopam,
Swathmaramam mudhitha vadanam,
Dakshinamurthim eede.

Meaning
I praise and salute that Dakshinamrthy,
Who faces the south,
Who explains the true nature of the supreme Brahman,
Through his state of silence,
Who is young in looks,
Who is surrounded by disciples who are old Sages,
Whose minds are fixed on Brahman,
Who is the greatest of teachers,
Who shows the Chinmudhra by his hand,
Who is personification of happiness,
Who is in the state of extreme joy within himself,
And who has a smiling face. 
(from Hindupdia, http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Sri_Dakshinamurthy_Stotram

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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnaiyoththa Patthu 4

28/3/2021

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MaNNu neerum vaLarndhezhu theyuvum
ViNNum kaalum nuzhaindhu viLangidum
ENNum sangayum ellayum indriya
KaNNuk kaavi RamNan en kaadhalan
​

Word meaning
maNN = earth; neer = water; theyu = fire; viNN = sky; kale = wind; eNNum = thought (too); nuzhaindhu = enter; sangai = doubt; ellai = boundary.

Ramana pervades the five elements of earth, water, fire, wind and space (sky). He is beyond all doubts and thoughts, he is dearest to me, he is my love.

Life form is composed of the five elements, and when it ends, the form goes back and dissolves into the elements. What was created on earth goes back to the earth completing the cycle. Bhagavan, who is both form and formless, is all the elements and at the same time transcends them all. Once when a devotee asked about god and his forms, Bhagavan said ‘First find out if you have form’. As we saw earlier, Yogi Ramaiah had darshan of Rama in Bhagavan and also as formlessness. 

To those who surrender to the feet of Bhagavan, he is the Truth untainted by earth-bound ideas such as thoughts and doubts. Because thoughts and doubts occur to the mind-body consciousness, not to the Self. As Bhagavan said once, ‘I am where there are words’. Words stem from thoughts and thoughts from ‘I am the mind-body’ idea. In the pure space beyond these limitations set by ignorance, is Bhagavan, full of love and grace.

SV calls Bhagavan ‘my love’ (kaadhalan means male lover, kaadhali is female lover). It is quite common for poets to think of their beloved gods as their lovers. Bhagavan himself became a love-lorn lady in his akshsramana malai, beseeching her lover, Arunachala to merge with ‘her’ through 108 verses of pure bhakti and longing. Bharathiar, a 19th century poet, in his collection ‘KaNNan Paatu (Krishna song) has imagined Lord Krishna as his lover (both female and male forms), friend, father, mothering, disciple, servant, baby, playmate and sadguru. In another variation, KaNNa becomes KaNNamma, a female version of the lord. By bringing the Absolute on to his own mortal level, the poet takes the liberty to treat his object of admiration and love  as he would a regular mortal in a display of mortal love and affection and other human emotions.
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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnaiyoththa Paththu 3

27/3/2021

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Pancha bhoodhath adangida paavanan
Manjurung gugai maa virupaakshiyir
Panju thangu padhathudan naNNinan
Senjol inba ramNa mai desikan


Word meaning
Pancha bootham = five elements; adangida = not contained by; paavanam = purifier, purify; manju = clouds, mist, snow, dew; gugai = cave; panju = cotton; padhathinan = feet like (cotton); desikan = one who knows the area, direction, guide.


Meaning
Ramana, he is the pure one that couldn’t be contained by the five elements. He reached, on his cotton-soft feet, the cave surrounded by pleasant, dew-laden clouds. Ramana, the one who knows the way, the form of the Truth, causes perfect bliss (in me).


SV describes Bhagavan as ‘the pure one not contained by the elements’. He also touches on a similar sentiment in ‘kummi paattu’ verse 5 and 6 where he expresses Bhagavan’s nature as one that has transcended the limitations set for mere mortals even though He is pervasive in all the elements.  This description finds a parallel in Saint Manickavasagar’s  Sivapuranam, where he extols Shiva as ‘viNN niraindhum maNN niraindhum mikkai …’ where ‘viNN’ is space or sky and ‘maNN’ is literally soil or sand but refers to the earth, ‘mikkaai’ is pervading.  Grant Duff, had a similar experience when he first saw Bhagavan, “There it did not take me long to see that I was in direct contact with one who has passed beyond the boundaries of the senses and was indeed already merged in the Absolute of his true Self”


‘Paavanan’ is someone who purifier, usually of sins. Lord Rama is worshipped as ‘patita pavana’ patita meaning ‘the fallen’ usually refers to those who fallen from their dharma. 


SV presents a beautiful picture of Virupaksha Cave in the morning, with dew-laden pleasant clouds hovering over Arunachala, reminiscent of the Kailasha peak. In fact, ‘manju’ meaning ‘mist’ (pani in Tamil), is one of the names of Parvati, daughter of Parvati Raja (King of Mountains). Bhagavan’s feet are described as ‘soft like cotton’ in this verse. Bhagavan never wore any kind of footwear (sanyasis are allowed to wear wooden sandals while walking), even in the searing heat of the summer months in Tiruvannamalai. He would walk in his usual, slow pace while advising those who walked with him to find a shaded spot. We mentioned how Bhagavan’s feet became soft in an earlier verse in an incident with his school mate Rangan.


‘Senjol’ is split as ‘sen chol’ which expands ro ‘semmayana sol’. ‘semmai’ can mean to improve or perfect (something). Words from Bhagavan (which, devotees say, can be counted on the fingers of one’s hand in a day), have the power to make us perfect. Hence it is called ‘sen chol’. 


‘Desikan’ : while it has become a family name or surname over time, means someone who knows the territory or direction. Kanchi Mahan in Deivathin Kural Part 6 explains in detail the meaning of the word desikan which has its roots in the Sanskrit sound ‘dich’ from which came ‘disha’ meaning direction and desikan meaning one who knows the direction in an area. Since Truth is a land we mortal have no familiarity with, we seek the help of those who have gone there before to guide us, and who better than Bhagavan to lead us from this samsara?
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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnayoththa paththu 2

26/3/2021

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 Adi vedhi yan anburu vaagiyor
Jodhi mamalai soNayil vandhava
Needhi odhu ramaNa niranjana
Kaadhil odhu gadhi peru maargame

Word meaning
Adi = beginning; vedhiyan = One who knows Brahman, Vedas; anbu uru = love form; ma malai, soNai = great hill, Arunachala; needhi = justice, right and wrong; kaadhil = in the ear; odhu = say, chant; gadhi = redemption, moksha; maargam = way.

Meaning
Ramana, the foremost lord established in Brahman! You who came to the hill that is the form of light! You speak/teach us the law of atma vichara! Pure One! Please whisper in my ear the way to redeem myself!

Again SV refers Bhagavan as vedhiyan, meaning one established in Brahman, also Shiva (in Thevaram song, ‘Sotrunai vedhiyan …’ sung by Appar, Shiva is praised as the meaning of the Vedas). Since Shiva is an ancient god in Saiva sidhantha, he is also referred to as Adi Sivan, the first god.  

Jodhi mamalai refers to Arunachala, the Hill of Light. It is the light that shows us the way out of samsara. Needhi has a few interpretations, the primary one being justice, it can also be taken to mean the discrimination between right and wrong, right conduct etc. SV calls Bhagavan as the one who came to impart the law of atma vichara. Odhu means read, chant but since Bhagavan rarely spoke, we can take it to mean teach. 

In the next line, SV is beseeching Bhagavan to whisper in his ear the way to redemption. This act of a guru initiating a student by whispering the secret sacred mantra into the ear is an ancient Vedic tradition. It is followed when a child is initiated into the holy Gayatri mantra on the investiture of sacred thread when the father whispers the mantra into the ear of the son. Since the mantras are secret, they are whispered into the ear of the student so he can preserve and respect this highest knowledge.

Rama is the mantra that is known as the taraka mantra, meaning the mantra that helps one cross the ocean of samsara, to attain ‘gadhi’ or ‘gati’ this two syllable mantra has been cherished and glorified for generations. 

It is said that when the time comes for a soul to depart (when the dying person is in Benares) Lord Siva whispers in the ears of the person the name of Rama which is guaranteed to grant moksha. [It is said that to be born in Tiruvarur, to have darshan at Chidambaram, to die in Kashi will guarantee moksha, while the mere remembrance of Arunchala bestows liberation.]

Sri Bhagavan on many occasions clarified on the benefit of Nama japa, and in particular, about Rama Nama.

(From Yogi Ramaiah)

Q. What is meant by Rama?
A. That in which everything takes its origin, exists and disappears is Rama.
“Sri Rama is Dakshinamurti, and Dakshinamurti is Sri Rama. Do you know where Ayodhya is? The Vedas say it is in the Sun, and describe it as ashtachakra navadwara devanam Purayodhya (the Gods’ city is Ayodhya with eight corners and nine gates). Arunachala is also astachakra puri (eight-cornered city), and Lord Arunachala is Sri Rama as well as Dakshinamurti. One has no need to go to the Sun to see Ayodhya or Sri Rama, but one may see them here and now.”

Talk 78.

DEVOTEE: How to find the Atman?
Mantra japa leads to elimination of other thoughts and to concentration on the mantra. The mantra finally merges into the Self and shines forth as the Self.

In another talk:
Japa even once uttered has its own good effect, whether the individual is aware or not.

While Bhagavan never gave upadesa to anyone (except ‘pokkiri’ Mani who was adamant that he be given a mantra, Bhagavan said, ‘’Say Siva,Siva and be quiet/still’), SV seeks an upadesa like a disciple would from the master.
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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnaiyoththa Pathu 1

25/3/2021

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1 Ponnai oththa poruppuru soNayil
Annai oththa arut kuru vaagiya
Minnai oththa ramaNa mei vedhiyan
Thannai kaNdavar thammai marapparae


Word meaning
Ponn = gold; oththa = like, similar to; poruppu = hill; soNai = Arunachala (golden hill); annai = mother; arut kuru (aruL guru) = grace  guru; minnai = lightning like; mei = truth (also body); vedhiyan: lord, essence, meaning, of the Vedas; marapparae = (they will) forget themselves.

Meaning
In the golden hill of Arunachala, he sits like a caring, loving mother bestowing his grace on all those who seek him. Those who see his lightning like form will forget themselves.

Comparing God to mother is quite common. Lord Shiva is known as Thaayumanavan meaning One who also became a mother. (Thaai = mother, thaayum = also mother, aanavan = one who became) Implying he already is the father now he is also the mother. There is a temple in Tiruchi for Thayumanava Swamy. The story is that there was a pious woman who was a great Shiva devotee on the other side of the river Cauvery (the temple was on this side of the river). Every day the woman would visit the temple and offer her prayers. This continued even when she was pregnant. One day, after her prayers, she saw that the river was swollen and started flooding, making it impassable. While waiting for the flood to subside she started having labour pains. She desperately wanted to go back home to her mother who lived on the other side of the river Legend has it that the Lord himself came disguised as her mother and helped deliver the baby, then disappeared.  (Thus SV continues the theme of seeing Bhagavan as Lord Shiva which he has expressed in Ramana Stuthi Panchakam collection.)

The ‘Tejas’ or the brightness that emanated from Bhagavan, compared to a streak of lightning here (minnai oththa -> min = lightning, oththa - like, similar to) was seen and felt by many devotees. Rajapalayam Ramana Ammal, when she first went to the ashram to have darshan,  saw a bright fire burning in his place  Dr.TMP Madhavan records how the brightness he saw when he met Bhagavan never diminished. Shantammal, another devotee says, “When I first came to Bhagavan, I saw a bright light, like the sun, with Bhagavan in the midst of it ... On another occasion I saw a big light come out from Bhagavan’s head and fill the hall. In that light everything disappeared, including Bhagavan.” (From Arunachala ramana - Eternal Ocean of Grace).

Seeing this light that is Bhagavan one forgets himself, losing the body consciousness, which is expressed in the last line ‘thammai marappare’.


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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnolir Pathu 10

21/3/2021

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Nindridun choNa saila nilaithidum ramaNan vaazhi
Mindigazh sadayanodu virupaksha gugayum vaazhi
Vendridum thunbam poka vengada ramaNan sollum
Pondrigazh virutha malai polivura vaazhi vaazhi

Word meaning
Nindridum = that which is standing; choNa/soNa = golden; nilaithu = established; vaazhi = long live; mindigazh (min thigazh) = like lightning; vendridum = that which will win/conquer; thunbam = sorrow; pondrigazh (pon thigazh) = like gold; polivu = brightness, lustre; virutham = type of poem.

Meaning
Long live Ramana Bhagavan who is established in the ever-famous Arunachala! Long live the lord (Ramana) who shines bright as a streak of lightning! Long live Virupaksha Cave! Long live this poem written by me, named Venkataraman, to dispel the sorrows of devotees!

SV equates Bhagavan with Lord Shiva again as ‘mindrigazh sadayan’ meaning the matted-haired one who shines with the brightness of lightning strike. Usually ‘sadayan’ is used to describe Shiva, especially ‘thaazh sadayan’ meaning the one withe matted locks that hanging down’. As we observe, through this work of five poems, SV has made no distinction between Bhagavan and Lord Shiva. 

Nindridum soNa salami here means Arunachala the holy hill that is permanently established. The hill was pillar of fire in Satya Yuga and has transformed to what it is now, a seemingly ordinary hill, in this Kali Yuga. We can take it to mean that Arunachala is a constant through the ages and millennia. Since this is the last verse, it is a call to the longevity of the subject of the song, which is Bhagavan, itself, and those who read and recite it, the devotees. 

Long live Bhagavan (as Arunachala), long live Virupaksha Cave, long live the devotees for whose sorrow-eradication this is composed, and long live Ponnolir Pathu.
​
NOTE: This poem is composed in the ‘andhadhi’ format where the first word of the subsequent stanza takes off from the last word of the previous stanza. ‘Andhadhi’ is split as ‘andham’ meaning end  and ‘aadhi’ meaning beginning.

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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnolir Pathu 9

18/3/2021

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Devanae ramaNa paadham thedinen thevitta gnana
Paavana theedha moana paramboruL uruvinaane
Jeevanum sıvamam ondrai thaekkiye uLathinanae
Saavadhum pirappum illa thathhuva mudivaai nindroi


Word meaning
Devan = Lord, God; Paadham = foot; thedinen = I searched; thevitta = not cloying; (bh)paavanatheedham = beyond conception; monam = stillness/silence; param poruL = Supreme Being;  jeevan = individual soul; sivam = Siva, supreme state; thekkinan (he) stored, gathered; saavu = death; pirappu = birth; mudivu = end;

Meaning 
My precious treasure Ramana! I am always searching for your holy feet, you whose  sweet wisdom-form is not cloying in the least! You who stand (established) beyond all concepts (of the mind), as the form of Supreme Being! You who gathered jiva and siva as one, you stand as the beginning and end of all philosophy that is beyond birth and death!

SV calls Bhagavan ‘selvam’ which is wealth or treasure, because that is the only permanent wealth that is worth hoarding as everything else that is material is transitory, and will not lead us to the purpose of life, which is self realisation. Many devotees visiting Bhagavan when he was in his sthula sarira  have narrated how they would not want to leave his presence, some considering ‘sanyasa’ so they could be with him (to those Bhagavan said ‘to find our what real sanyasa is’). Ramanatha Brahmachari, one of the early settles in Bhagavan’s presence, wrote: 
‘Thiruchizhi naadhanai kandaene thirumbi varaamal nindraene’ meaning I saw the lord Tiruchizhi  (where Bhagavan was born) and stood without returning.

But not everyone could stay for various reasons, and those who left teary-eyed with a heavy heart, when they said how could they leave Bhagavan, were comforted bu Bhagavan’s words like, ‘Look he says he is going some place where I am not!’ Once Bhagavan told Krishnasamy that ‘even this Bhagavan will leave you one day, so hold on to the Bhagavan inside your heart, only that is permanent’.

SV refers to Bhagavan’s form as ‘thevittadha’ meaning that which doesn’t cloy your palate’ meaning that which you can have to your heart’s content, over and over.

‘Paavana (or bhavana) theetha’ (athhetham is extra, over, beyond) is taken to mean that which is beyond conception. Bhagavan himself said ‘I am where there are no words’ indicating the the Self he has asked us to find cannot be grasped by concepts and words or anything coming from mind. ‘Anything the mind comes up with when you ask ‘Who am I’ is not the truth he has advised one devotee. 

He has gathered the individual soul and Sivam in his heart from the minute he had the death experience in his uncle’s house as a young boy, a stage he has never deviated from till he shed his body in 1950. Consequently he transcended the metal cycle of birth and death and stands as the beginning and end of all ‘tatvam’ which can mean philosophy or it can mean ’tat vam asi’ which is a maha vakya of one of the Vedas meaning you are that. 

It also finds mention in aksharamana malai 42:
Thatthuvam theriyaadh athanai utraai
Thatthuvam idhuvenn Arunachala

Meaning
Arunachala! Without knowing the truth ‘You are that’, you helped me attain that state. Shower me with your grace so as to confirm that this is the state I have attained.
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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnolir Pathu 8

17/3/2021

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Vaazhndhidu mulaginoadu vadivuru nama mellam
Thaazhndhida gnana paarvai thazhaladhai thanakkuL vaithoi
Aazhndhidum yoga gnana ramaNane azhagin mikkoi
Soozhndhidun chudare soNa malai vaLar punidha devae


Word meaning
Vaazhndhium = living; ulaginodu = with the world; vadivu = shape, form; namam = name; gnanam = wisdom; paarvai = look (from a person, here Bhagavan); thazhal = ember; aazhndhidum = deepening; soozhndhidum = surrounding, enveloping, chudar/sudar = flame;

Ramana! You burnt (removed) this world I live in, with its names and forms, from my mind with the fire of your gnana and grace emanating from your eyes. You, the yogi who have become one with the Self, wise Ramana, (you are the) beauty of all that’s beautiful, you are the omnipresent flame of wisdom, my pure and holy lord who lives in Arunachala!

Everyone who met Bhagavan’s eyes for the first time felt the uprooting effect of His penetrating glance reaching into the bottom of their beings like a fire that burns everything except what is essential, which is the Self. 

It is what Arunachala does, in Bhagavan’s words from aksharamana malai, ‘Arunachala ena agamae ninappavar agathai vaer aruppai Arunachala!’, meaning the mere thought of the holy hill wipes out the ego of the one who is thus thinking of Arunachala. Bhagavan’s glance, his mere presence had that effect on those who have were blessed to be the recipients. 

In the process of receiving his benediction through his graceful glance, all that we hold onto, the world with its names and forms, affections and afflictions, joys and sorrows, everything is burnt without a trace. SV says ‘gnana thazhal’, where gnana is wisdom and thazhal is glowing embers (of a burning coal). 

N.R.Krishnamurthi says this about Bhagavan’s gaze:
There was a fierce glow in Bhagavan’s eyes that held my own eyes in a tight grip. Then a radiant smile of victory spread over his divine face. I lost awareness of both the body and the world as the insignificant ‘I’ was swallowed up in the pure Awareness  Being in which all names, forms, time, space and action are utterly lost. It was a state of utter silence without beginning or end, aglow with the self-effulgent ‘I am’.

We can see a similarity again in aksharamana malai:
55 Ninneri yerithenai neeraakidumun
ninnaruL mazhai pozhi Arunachala
Unless the heart is cooled sufficiently by the grace of divine power and ripened, it cannot stand the intensity of the flames (of initiation), and it will burn one down.

His presence cools us down while his glance burns the samskaras. By saying ’Soozhndhidun chudare’ SV comforts us with the understanding that Bhagavan’s grace is ever present and his grace surrounds us always, a reflection of what Bhagavan said on shedding his mortal coil, ‘They say I am going, where can I go? I am always here.’

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Ramana Stuthi Panchakam Ponnolir Pathu 7

12/3/2021

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Nindridu ninaivu thannai nimidathi neekki nenjai
Andrayan thirumal aayndhitt arindhida vazhagan paadham
Sendrida niruthun soma segara ramaNa murthi
En perun thuyara neekka yegane yoga vazhve

Word meaning
Ninaivu = memory; nimidam = minute; neekki = act of removing; Andru = that day; ayan, mal = Brahma and Vishnu; aayndhittu = searching; soma segaran (Shekaran) = Shiva; thuyar = sorrow.

Meaning
Ramana, Somashekara murthi! You wipe out, in a minute, the mind that’s holding onto desires, and place at the holy feet of Arunachala, which is not seen by Brahma and Vishnu! Please remove my sorrows, Oh Ramana, the one is established in the atma swarupa (form of Self).

Nisargadatta Maharaj says ‘it (the idea of you) is mere a habit built on memory, prompted by desire, you will think yourself to be a person …’ On another occasion, he says, ‘desire is the memory of pleasure and fear is the memory of pain, both make the mind restless.’

It is this cycle of desire and memory that SV is seeking to transcend in this verse. He appeals to Bhagavan to wipe out the desires, remembered and sought, based on past experiences, and lift him (and us) to the holy feet of Arunachala that was beyond the reach of Brahma and Vishnu.  

In the mythical lore, Lord Shiva appeared as a pillar of Light to resolve the argument between Brahma and Vishnu as to who was superior. Shiva said that whoever found his head or feet first will be superior. Vishnu took the form of a boar and drilled through the earth but admitted defeat as he couldn’t find Shiva’s feet. Brahma flew up in the form of a swan, and along the way he saw a flower (thazham poo - screw pine flower) falling from Shiva’s matted locks. He asked the flower to say that he saw Shiva’s head and the flower was proof that he did. On the ground, Brahma l and lied that he found the head and the flower backed up his story. Since the Shiva knew the truth, he cursed both Brahma and the flower saying there will be no temples for the former and that the latter will not be used in any pujas in Shiva temples. Even today, there are virtually no temples for Brahma and ‘thazham poo’ is never used in Shiva temples except in Uttarakosa mangai temple, one of the ancient Shiva temples in the south, that too only onMaha Shivarathiri nights. 

In the first song of Arunachala Stuthi Panchakam, Muruganar refers to this story :

Buddhi agangaaram pula peydha vongu
Madhdhi idhayandhaan marayavanum maalu
Naththa variyadhu nalan gulaya vannaar
Maththi oLir annamalayinadhu meyye


Here Brahma is ego (ahankara, in Tamil, agangaaram) and Vishnu is intellect (buddhi). When the ego and intellect stood bewildered in their failed attempt to reach the truth, the light that shone from the heart space is in their midst is the true meaning of Arunachala.

The great sorrow referred here is our samsara, the cycle of birth and death. The only way to escape this endless cycle is to seek Guru’s help to reach the feet of Arunachala, who offers moksha be mere thought of him. It is said in that to be born in Thiruvarur, to have darshan at Chidambaram, and to die in Kasi (Varanasi) will guarantee moksha but mere thought of Arunachala will bestow mukti. Since Bhagavan Ramana is not different from Arunachala, it is at his feet we will find salvation.
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    An attempt at translating Ramana Stuthi Panchakam into English for the benefit of Bhagavan Ramana's devotees who are not familiar with Tamil.

    You can buy PDF translations of Aksharamana Malai and all the songs from Ramana Stuthi Panchakam by clicking the images below. They are prices at 99 cents, but you can pay more if you feel like it.

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